McClellan To Testify Before Judiciary Committee

Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, whose scathing memoir about his time in the Bush administration sent waves through Washington D.C., has agreed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee, a senior committee official told The Huffington Post.

[Update: Watch McClellan discuss his upcoming testimony on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Video below.]

McClellan's book "What Happened" detailed the "propaganda campaign" that led up to the Iraq war. His hearing is expected to focus heavily on the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame, an episode that McClellan has said was driven by political motivations from within the Oval Office. But the committee could press the former press secretary on other matters within its jurisdiction, including the possible authorization of torture by administration officials (though it remains to be seen how much knowledge McClellan has of that topic).

Earlier on Monday, Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers sent an letter to McClellan requesting his testimony.

"I have extended an invitation...after discussions between Committee staff and his attorneys," wrote Conyers. "In his book, Mr. McClellan suggests that senior White House officials may have obstructed justice and engaged in a cover-up regarding the Valerie Plame leak. This alleged activity could well extend beyond the scope of the offenses for which Scooter Libby has been convicted and deserves further attention."

The date on the invitation, June 20, was set in advance to accommodate McClellan's schedule, the official said.

McClellan will be the highest-ranking Bush administration official to be pressed by Congress on the Plame affair. Former Bush strategist Karl Rove has refused to testify, citing executive privilege.

And as such, the testimony could be extremely revealing. According to McClellan, the decision to leak Plame's covert identity emanated from the very top of the Bush White House. The move, he wrote, was politically motivated, as officials were peeved at the critical statements about Iraq coming from Plame's husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson. While McClellan said that the president was ultimately misled by his advisers on the matter, he asserted that the episode itself was a stain on the Oval Office - one that led to his disillusionment.

"It's...clear to me that Scooter Libby was guilty of the perjury and obstruction crimes for which he was convicted," McClellan wrote. "When the president commuted Libby's prison sentence and thereby protected him from serving even one day behind bars, I was disappointed. This kind of special treatment undermines our system of justice."

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Comments

[JimSAC]

I may have to get a TV just to watch this.

[robynuva]

now that is MUST SEE TV

[SaulGood]

nah, c-span, dude.

[bennofs]

Before you make that great decision — better make sure any of it makes the MSM.

[1oldlady]

popcorn! pass the vodka!

I wish I could be the fly on the WH wall....and be the cockroch on the floor...they MUSH be running
a muck about NOW!

[SeriousBlack]

They've probably already blown some fuses running the paper shredders and hard drive crunchers haha

[tsloan]

just waiting for the Bush Admin. to block his testimony.....tic toc

[GingerB]

But I really, really still love and respect little Georgie.

[timmcveighjr]

yea. didn't he look really HOT in that flightsuit?

[GingerB]

Ewwww!

[DannyEastVillage]

a REAL man.

[maxdenn]

McClellan to testify? Fine. But I don't have to like this individual.

[johnqeniac]

nope. any more than you have to like any small time criminal who turns states evidence so that the big fish can be nailed

[RRonin]

The search for truth is not a popularity contest, think John Dean, Joe Vallachi, Rudolph Hess, Oleg Penkovsky, etc.

[blueshield]

If this were Russia, he'd be intravenous already.

On the other hand, GW looked into Putin's eyes and saw.....

Watch your back, Scott.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

MUST SEE TEE VEE !!!!

[rmetz74]

Better late than never. Hopefully this will be the first in a long series of reversals by people whose consciences will get the better of them, and the REAL legacy of the bush administration will finally be known to all.

[WaspMan]

Anyone remember John Dean?

Welcome Scottie. There's hope for you yet.

[DannyEastVillage]

well said!

Scott was so thoroughly detestable back in the day. everybody knew, knew, KNEW he was lying. And remember how pathetically shut down his affect was? when he would speak, his face DID NOT MOVE. He wore what I called a Death Mask.

Well, the death mask has begun to slip. And I, for one, welcome Scott to the Land of the Living. He's not wholly comfortable here just yet--but he will be, given the right kind of reception and support.

AS to critics who cannot bring themselves to be conciliatory toward him because of the many deaths whose apologia he delivered, that is a problem that cannot be solved this side of Truth. But it remains a fact of life that ALL OF US HAVE TO MOVE ON. And it's up to us what kind of baggage--useless or not--we decide to take--or drag--along with us.

[carlgt1]

keep tying yourself to Bush, McSame, bwahahahahaha!

[in4success]

sweeeeet!

[dbdzen]

When hell freezes over, McClellan will testify.
You can be sure the Justice Department will act on a White House instruction forbidding him from testifying.

[Mike169]

I wonder - in order to exonerate themselves the Bush people said he wasn't "in the loop". If he ain't in the loop where's the exec privoledge which is shaky in every case of Bushie refusals.

[ThunderclapNewman]

He's agreed to testify.

The WH can't do anything to stop it.

[DannyEastVillage]

true dat. officially and legally speaking. however, when has this White House worried itself with officially and legally? Remember Cheney's shooting his bud in the face. And did not allow the media--did not even allow the COPS--to be told, but finally assented to a local newpaper being informed. Nobody knows the real story, of course, except Cheney, who was drunk at the time.

[Wilsonfisk89]

I want to see Cheney behind bars for the rest of his life. God Bless America.

[DannyEastVillage]

I would bet six months' pay that everywhere Cheney goes, at the nearest airstrip is a fully fueled private jet ready to taxi, take off, and convey Cheney wherever it is that criminals of his ilk can safely land. He has had that eventuality planned for a long time, you may depend on it.

That's not to say that Scottie won't be the roadkill taken out on Cheney's way to the airport.

[captainigor]

Pass the popcorn!!!